11 recommendations to strengthen democracy

As a member of Nordic Council of Ministers' Think Tank for Tech and Democracy, Ilisimatusarfik researcher Signe Ravn-Højgaard has been part of suggesting 11 recommendations on how the Nordic countries can strengthen democracy.

"This is important because much of the public debate takes place on platforms owned by giant international corporations that want to boost bottom lines rather than strengthen democracy", Signe Ravn-Højgaard says.

The think tank agrees that increased political scrutiny of tech giants is a necessity.

"But it is difficult", Signe Ravn-Højgaard says. "Partly because technology is developing so incredibly fast that it is almost impossible for legislators to keep up - and partly because regulation and legislation in national frameworks alone will have no effect, as the tech giants are so big".

The 11 recommendations of the think tank are therefore:

1. Establish a Nordic Centre for Tech and Democracy to support the enforcement of European tech regulation, share experiences and develop new policies.
2. Protect the well-being and safety of children and youth online and push for more general control for citizens.
3. Establish an online hub for knowledge exchange on digital literacy.
4. Support the volunteers who facilitate online communities where democratic debate unfolds.
5. Promote the innovation and implementation of technology that supports open digital public debate to create alternatives to large online platforms.
6. Give public service media a strong digital mandate for online presence, content creation and development of platforms for democratic debate online.
7. Step up support for independent fact checkers.
8. Push for better content moderation in the Nordics.
9. Initiate a Nordic task force to oppose the risks to democracy from disinformation generated by artificial intelligence.
10. Support access to platform data and algorithms for independent researchers.
11. Commission a biennial report on the state of Nordic digital democracies.

The report and the 11 recommendations have also received international press coverage - see for example:

• Tænketank i opråb til politikere: Sæt tidsbegrænsning på børns adgang til sociale medier (Think tank calls on politicians to set time limits on children's access to social media) (dr.dk)
• Anbefalinger for tech og demokrati og medieansvar i sløring af mistænkte (Recommendations for tech and democracy and media accountability in veiling suspects) (dr.dk)
• Kulturminister åbner dør for øget forældrekontrol med børns sociale medier (Culture Minister opens door to increased parental control of children's social media) (berlingske.dk)
• Politiken-journalist: Jeg brugte 18 timer om ugen på TikTok. Nu kan de rammer, jeg havde brug for, være på vej (Politiken journalist: I spent 18 hours a week on TikTok. Now the framework I needed may be on its way) (politiken.dk)
• Efter et års arbejde er tænketank klar med anbefalinger til håndtering af tech (After a year of work, think tank comes up with recommendations on how to deal with tech) (mediawatch.dk)